Chuck Jenda, one of Northern California's most successful trainers over the past 26 years - highlighted by guiding Brown Bess to an Eclipse Award - has retired.

"We have a grandson now and hopefully we'll have more grandchildren and we can spend more time with family," said Jenda, who is in the process of moving with his wife from Castro Valley to Spokane, Wash., where their daughter, son-in-law and grandson live.

Jenda's final starter was Live Sundays, who finished third in an allowance race Dec. 16 at Golden Gate Fields. He then turned his stable over to longtime assistant Victor Trujillo, whose first starter as a trainer, Hot Chaco, finished second in Thursday's seventh race.

"It's been about a year's transition, so Victor has been able to get to know our clients and vice versa," Jenda said. "They knew I was on a short fuse, and it's worked out quite well."

Jenda, 65, won 1,477 races in a career that began in 1976, and his horses earned $24,661,645. He finished third in the trainer standings at Golden Gate Fields in 1992 and 1993 and second in 1994, when he won a career-best 82 races.

Brown Bess was voted the champion female turf horse in 1989 when she won the Grade 1 Ramona Handicap at Del Mar and the Grade 1 Yellow Ribbon Invitational at Santa Anita.

The Breeders' Cup didn't have a grass race for fillies and mares at that time, so the Yellow Ribbon served as America's top event in that category, and Brown Bess' time of 1:57.60 for 1 1/4 miles remains the fastest ever recorded by a female.

Lost in the Fog, the champion sprinter of 2005, is the only other Northern California horse to win an Eclipse Award.

"The business had a lot of rewards," Jenda said. "I liked it when I was in it, but it was a very difficult job. I never really had the right temperament. I was always worried about how horses would come out of the stall. Even after a big victory like Brown Bess, instead of soaking it in, I was worried about how she was going to be the next day."